National Champion!

photo by Fritz


I won the New Zealand Nationals on Sunday! This is a huge relief as it was my first freestyle competition out of retirement.

I was really nervous the day before the competition and not in myself, (altho I did a great back blunt in practice) I shook off the nerves on Sunday and actually felt ok going into the prelims but completely choked! I thought I was done and was pretty disappointed. By some miracle I made it through to the finals. I figured at that stage I was lucky I even got another shot and had nothing to lose as I was already in last. So I went out there and had 3 great rides! I paddled as well as I could have and was happy with that, and at that stage it didn't even matter if I won because I knew I did the best I could. Winning was just a bonus! So I am now focused on training for the World Cup events coming up in early June in Germany and will be representing New Zealand.

Am feeling like all the hard work in the editing suite is paying off and it will be great to focus now more on training and raising money to get to Germany.

Video Blog 1 - Wairoa Extreme Race

Off The couch and strait into the frying pan here is my recap of the Wairoa Extreme Race, along with action footage from the race.

Wairoa Extreme Race Final

A Fire Burning

Its official, I just had my first shoot for A Fire Burning, my new film about my comeback into whitewater kayaking, and training for the 2011 World Freestyle Kayak Championships.
It was a little weird at first filming myself, but after awhile I got into it and feel like I am talking directly to the viewer. Being the camera operator and the subject adds a whole new twist and I think I like it. I think it will make the film a lot more intimate and I think the viewer is going to get sucked in and involved. Plus it was fun, which is my main goal.
We are having our first pre-production meeting on Monday and begin the official shoot 10 Feb up on the Kaituna River.
I am really excited to be kayaking again and am feeling stronger than ever. I have just been training on flat water this week, but so far so good. I am also cycling 2 hours a day, doing yoga for an hour+, and meditation 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour at night.
So my days are pretty full. I am reserving Saturdays to do my artwork and take the day off from training.
My whole goal is to have balance, and make room for everything that's important, which is something I was lacking last time I was training.
I am feeling good and happy and healthy and will be making regular posts about the progress of the film and how my training is going.

Nomads- Wandering Women of The Whitewater Tribe

Nomads, my award winning documentary film, is about three women kayakers who give back to a small village in Uganda. It has been an official selection in over 30 film festivals world wide.



Runtime 20 minutes $19.99

Available now on www.trademe.co.nz
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=244681799&ed=true